JERUSALEM 

Scores of Jewish settlers forced their way into Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Wednesday, according to a Palestinian agency.

"Around 123 settlers backed by Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa compound since early morning," said the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, a Jordan-run agency responsible for overseeing the city's Muslim and Christian holy sites.

Settlers swarmed into the site via the Al-Maghariba Gate, usually guarded by Israeli police.

Earlier on Wednesday, at least two Palestinians were martyred in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip.

The situation escalated in Gaza early Tuesday after an Israeli airstrike killed Bahaa Abu al-Atta, the commander of the Islamic Jihad resistance group. His wife Asmaa Abu al-Atta was also killed.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem -- in which Al-Aqsa is located -- during the 1967 Middle East War. It formally annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming it as its capital -- a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat